Review: Cat Cafe Manager

destructoid.com:

If you weren’t already aware, a cat cafe is a type of theme cafe popular in East Asia wherein the establishment is both operated and infested by cats. Personally, I used to frequent a board game cafe to do some light reading, as I prefer the company of board games to cats.

Cat Cafe Manager is a game that aims to depict the horrors of working in the food service industry under the iron paws of a fleet of felines. It depicts it in the most lighthearted way possible, but don’t be fooled. This is hell.

I jest. In truth, I don’t hate cats. I much prefer them to humans.

Cat Cafe Manager (PC, Nintendo Switch [Reviewed]) Developer: Roost Games Publisher: Freedom Games Released: April 14, 2022 MSRP: $19.99

Cat Cafe Manager puts you in the role of some chump who decided to take over their grandmother’s business. However, the business doesn’t exist anymore and I can’t remember if it’s ever explained what happened to your grandmother. So, you’re left to build it from scratch, then lure the local strays into it. I am not joking whatsoever.

After putting up four walls and encasing feral cats within them, you soon receive visitors who want a glass of water with hair in it. They pay in leaves or something. No one in the town of Caterwaul actually pays with money. They pay with things like timber, gold, and gems. Each of these currencies has its own usage, from expanding the cafe to furnishing it. The six currencies are exclusive to each demographic of customers, each of whom has their own preferences. It’s up to you to please them all. Except for punks, because after your cafe is big enough, you can just ax them out entirely.

The narrative focuses on restoring a shrine to cat-kind on the outskirts of town. You do this by collecting